BobbySteel

I enjoy displaying the gold tag because I know it's the special identifier that BAA uses to say "hey, I should harass this guy going through T5 security" and "well, he's probably able to pay even more to check this bag, so we should take advantage." Proves very useful. Not to mention the signal it sends on board that "of course he'll keep buying tickets from us, so I should focus service elsewhere in the cabin."

pjoalfa

Mine are AA tags, but they go on all my luggage just because it's the easiest. They also go on my carry on luggage. I have a lot of American Eagle flights from where I live and the carry ons get checked at planeside.

(I still have my lowly AA gold tags on some bags, and the platinum ones will also still be used when I hit exec. plat.)

ajax

I've heard stories of people's luggage coming out with the gold tags deliberately removed (i.e., snipped off with scissors or a knife), although I cannot remember which airport(s) were affected. Have you ever heard anything about this?

Radioman

Oh I have green and some yellow tags on my bags

"You wont look as good as me in my clothes"

"This is not your bag...trust me"

and some other wonderful sayings. I am surprised no one has stolen the luggage tags as they stick out like a soar thumb when we are waiting to collect our baggage.

My daughter bought them during our summer trip to the USA. Cant remember which store as they were in so many .

As for airline/hotel tags, well I know that with the PC tag on my bag it certainly helped at a Hilton Hotel of all places, got lots of questions from guest services, upgraded my room, and was comped to Hilton Gold (or something like that, now expired).

I must admit I dont mind being a nob with my baggage tags, after all I earned the right to be a nob...and will continue to do so.

Mycroft

I can see how a Gold tag can work both ways; having a rather conspicuous Gold tag on hand luggage has resulted in me being invited to the front of the boarding queue (usually in out-stations where priority boarding is not generally consistently applied, i.e. FRA, GVA, MAD, BCN), plus being escorted through the diplomatic channel, without having to ask.. (at least, that's what I put the experience down to...).

I attach a Gold tag to hold luggage not because I can't recognise my own luggage, but because if it gets lost, I have a way to help the airline identify it... I imagine that's the ultimate reason tags are provided. I know from friends in the trade that checking in at some hotels, in Asia, having a BA Gold tag on your luggage can help at check-in.

Intersting, and heartening, that it's the BA forum that has this debate - most other FFPs assume that if you've got it, flaunt it!

Fraser

Ah gotcha, I thought (s)he was discussing a Gold benefit I hadn't taken advantage of

HIDDY

I find that hard to believe to be honest.
How on earth are they supposed to see it in the first place unless you plonk it on the desk right in front of them.

Mycroft

I must admit, that's probably less to do with plonking the bag on the desk (which I don't and which would be ill-mannered), but may be more to do with politely asking the hotel to add the FFQ number to the booking. Thanks for the grounding in reality, Hiddy.

The whole process / pros and cons are so murky and un-sure that anything which is attributed to having a simple tag on a bag is likely to contribute only a small degree to the perceived benefit.

Ultimately it's a status-thing. If people take notice, I don't care. If cabin crew / check-in staff notice, and there's an unusual situation, then it's worth displaying if it helps identify me as one of BA's top customers...

HIDDY

.....well for your sake I hope the guy in front of you doesn't have a Black one.

dfotn

After reading the previous responses I've realized that I am indeed a nob.

BA1A

And where do we all stand on the cabin baggage tags that say whether you are travelling in F or CW (the shiny paper ones on a bit of elastic cord)?

In India for example they are a must because you have to get it stamped each time you go through a security check and they do check at the gate to make sure it has the current date stamp on it before you can board the flight. That said I have seen loads of people who seem to be desperately clinging on to old and battered F tags but then sit down in CW

Nicksta

And I assume you see so many Louis Vuitton carry-on baggage simply because they make the most ergonomic pieces? Devil is in the details, Gold tags and all.

While at T5 last month, I noticed the bag in front of me had a laminated black Premier bag tag. And, I was guilty of some envy. I was going to try to spot its owner, but then the barking of "Don't remove the bin" started!

Ragman

I have a laptop bag that I use as hand luggage wherever I go. I have my BA tag (now gold but also when I was silver) on it, not for BA or BAA but so that when I go to my office I can identify my bag (they all look the same) and if I forget it (which I do) there is an easy to read tag with my name on it.

Petrus

I've noticed this too. Not just with BA. Plonkers.

TechnoOenology

It used to be (and perhaps still is?) a requirement to have your hand luggage labelled - that's why they have the paper tags on the check-in desks. If an airline supply me with a handy label I'm going to use it, not fill out a temporary thing. So it's me being lazy, not being a snob!